Political machines
were organized groups of
dishonest politicians who had two main goals:

Get the group's own candidates elected
to all of the top jobs in the city government.

Once
in control of the city government, use that power to make the leaders
of the organization rich.

The top man in a political machine was called
the city "Boss." The most famous example was William M. Tweed,
shown on the right. From around 1860 until 1872, Boss
Tweed
ran a political machine that had control of New York
City's government.

How
they won elections

To win elections, a political machine depended mainly on
the
votes of the immigrants pouring into America's cities.

The
organization would have supporters in all the city's
neighborhoods. They would meet new
immigrants and give them help
of various kinds, such as help finding a job or a place to live. On
election day, the machine's supporters would make sure the immigrants
knew who to vote for to return the favor.
The drawing in the newspaper below shows Boss
Tweed's political machine signing up a group of immigrants just before
an election. At times, political machines used fraud to
win elections. For example, supporters of the organization
could be sent out to vote multiple times in different neighborhoods
using different names at each voting place.

How
city bosses got rich

Once in control of the city's top elected offices, a
city boss had many ways of making money. He could demand bribes
from businesses that wanted to get city contracts for jobs like paving
city streets, for example.

In the case
of Boss Tweed, he and his top associates also stole millions of dollars
right from the city's own bank accounts.

One famous example of Boss Tweed's demands for bribes is
the Brooklyn Bridge in New York
City. When a group of people who wanted to build the bridge
needed
approval from city officials, Tweed demanded a large bribe to make
it happen.

Tweed also demanded that he be made a part owner of the
bridge company itself. The bribe money was paid, Tweed was made a
part owner of the company, and the approval was given.

Tweed was finally exposed for his crimes by
newspaper reporters. He was first arrested in
1871. He
was later convicted, and died in jail in 1878. The famous
political cartoon below shows the ghost
of Boss Tweed
still haunting his jail
cell years later. Notice the sign in the cartoon saying that
bribery and
corruption (dishonest government) were still common in New York even
with Boss Tweed dead and gone.

But. . .
political
machines
did some good things!

Boss Tweed and his political machine,
known as
Tammany Hall, did some good things for New York City. He pushed
for real improvements to the city's schools, hospitals, roads, and
the city water system.

Supporters of the organization made it a
point to give help to
the immigrants and other poor people of the city. That help, no
matter how small, would be remembered for a long time. When Tweed
died,
thousands of New Yorkers attended his funeral.

Even after Boss Tweed was gone, the
Tammany Hall political machine remained a part of New York
City life and elections until the 1930s.

The photos and the cartoons are from the Library of
Congress.The NYC / Brooklyn Bridge color photo that is shown with
the link is
from the library's Carol M. Highsmith collection.
Some images have been edited or resized for this page.

Copyright Notice

Copyright 2009, 2012 by David Burns. All rights
reserved. As a guide to the Virginia Standards of Learning,
some pages necessarily include phrases or sentences from that document,
which is available online from the
Virginia Department of Education. The author's copyright extends
to
the original text and graphics, unique design and layout, and related
material.